Are You Driving Everyone Crazy at Work?

Constant sneezing and throat-clearing, both symptoms of allergies, can irritate co-workers. There is a solution that will make everyone happy — immunotherapy.

Is there someone in your office who always sneezes, coughs and/or continuously clears their throat? That person may be suffering from allergy symptoms that include post-nasal drip. Co-workers offer a “bless you” once or twice, but the well wishes gradually taper off as thoroughly annoyed office mates secretly wish that person would get their allergies under control and put everyone out of their misery. It’s certainly not your fault but if you’ve been noticing dirty looks, you might be that person.

Similarly, is there a student at your child’s school who just looks miserable — suffering daily with watery eyes, runny nose, lack of energy and fleeting attention? The teacher and fellow students undoubtedly feel bad for that child — at least at first. But when symptoms continue day after day, sympathy turns to frustration and friends find excuses to slink away. That child’s grades are likely to suffer as a result of inattention and/or missed days. For this great, smart kid who isn’t achieving their deserved social or intellectual status, top notch performance seems an impossible dream. Is that your child?

Whether it’s you, your child, or someone who shares your air, there IS a solution that can clear symptoms and restore good relations — immunotherapy. Here are three need-to-know points about it … First, it can resolve reactions to multiple allergens like ragweed, mold and cat dander. Second, it lasts for years. Third, it’s entirely natural — it’s not medication. Immunotherapy exposes your immune system to very small quantities of the allergens, effectively teaching it “see, they’re really not so bad.” Since your system stops trying to fight off these harmless particles, your symptoms subside greatly or disappear altogether.

Allergy drops and shots are both forms of immunotherapy and they’re both effective. One of the major benefits of drops is you can take them at home — or on the road — so there’s no need to miss work or school for weekly doctor appointments, which are required with shots. (Missing work or school may be another strain on relationships with co-workers, friends and teachers.) Drops are affordable and are ideal for everyone from children to seniors. The upside of shots is that, currently, more insurance companies pay for them (co-pay and deductible may apply.)  In the long run, both shots and drops will likely be less expensive than medications — and will almost certainly be more effective.

If you or your child are the ones getting on everyone’s nerves, through no fault of your own, it’s time to put your allergies behind you and patch up those strained relationships. Talk to your doctor about immunotherapy. If it’s someone else, don’t bludgeon them to death — point them to https://www.allervision.com/allergies.

Spring – A Time for Love … and Pollen

A pine tree releases up to five lbs. of pollen, which will be distributed for miles by the wind. February is the start of pollen season. (Image source:Wikipedia)

Whether you’re eagerly anticipating the end of the freeze and the arrival of spring, or dreading it, depends almost entirely on whether you have allergies. If you’re an allergy sufferer, you may already be experiencing those dreaded symptoms; February is the official kickoff of pollen season for trees in many parts of the country.

So what is pollen anyway, and why does it make you feel so miserable? If it didn’t make you feel like sticking your head in the sand until the scorching summer months, the answer would be, if not romantic then at least a little racy. Pollen is a collection of powdery grains made up of microscopic proteins that male tree parts release into their air with the hope of pollinating female tree parts … ideally of a different tree. The wind carries these grains for miles, dispersing them over the terrain to find the perfect mate(s) and increase the chance of successful reproduction. Since this is a very hit or miss delivery technique (slightly more so than an internet dating service), trees — and other plants — release millions of grains of pollen. Put enough pollen out there and, like with internet dating, eventually something good will happen.

With all that pollen circulating in the air looking for companionship, it’s inevitable that sooner or later some will come in contact with your respiratory system. Since the pollen is a normal part of the environment, your body should just be able to ignore it and carry on with little more than an occasional sneeze. However, a pollen-allergic immune system mistakes pollen as a serious invader and immediately summons defenses to fight it off. The result is a wall of mucous and swelling designed to keep the invaders out and a barrage of symptoms that may include runny nose, congestion, sinus headaches, conjunctivitis, skin rashes, coughing, and asthma flare ups; they’re often worse than the symptoms of an internet match gone wrong!

There are a variety of treatment options to quell these symptoms. You can find more details about them in our Which Allergy Treatment is Right For You post. But seeing as it is virtually impossible to avoid these mate-seeking airborne grains, allergic patients should strongly consider the only solution that is actually a “cure” because it teaches your body to ignore pollen season after season: immunotherapy. That’s important considering that at this very moment, pollen from Ash, Alder and Juniper trees, among others, may be swirling around your home. Too bad we can’t offer immunity to bad matches on the internet scene. Welcome to spring!

Make “Get Rid of My Allergies” Your New Year’s Resolution

Don’t let pollen keep you from enjoying the great outdoors. You can overcome your tree, grass and weed allergies with immunotherapy.

Some people resolve to diet. Others commit to exercise more. Whatever you promised yourself for this year, we suggest the additional new year’s resolution (it’s not too late to make one!) of improving your health and wellness by overcoming your allergies. It’s possible, and we’ll tell you how below. But first, in case you need a little extra motivation, here are a few activities that you should be able to enjoy, but which often provoke allergy symptoms: strolling in the park; playing soccer; watching a little league game; exploring a forest; hugging your dog; rolling in the grass; visiting friends; petting a cat; walking outside in spring; cleaning your home; sleeping; breathing.

When we say “get rid of allergies” we’re not talking about covering up your symptoms with medications or temporary treatments. We’re talking about using immunotherapy to teach your immune system not to react to the harmless allergens that it mistakes for enemies. When you do this with allergy drops or shots, your body stops creating allergy symptoms each time it encounters the allergens; in other words, you become healthier!

The first step is visiting your healthcare provider for a pain-free allergy skin test to determine what allergen(s) causes your symptoms. If your doctor doesn’t offer the skin tests, click here to find one who does. Then talk to your provider about whether immunotherapy is right for you. If you are a good candidate for the treatment, your doctor will recommend either drops or shots. Within two months of starting immunotherapy, you may leave your allergies in the dust – not just for this year, but for many years to come! And next year, your resolution can be based on using your good health to reach new goals!

Say Goodbye to Hay Fever, Hello to Winter Allergies

Although allergies to pets, mold and dust last all year, they may be more pronounced in the winter when people spend more time indoors.

Depending on where you live, hay fever season might be coming to a close in a few weeks. That’s the good news, and it isn’t coming a moment too soon for the millions of people who suffer from weed pollen allergies. The bad news: with the approach of cold, wet weather, you’ll likely be spending more time indoors where a new set of allergens will step into the spotlight.

Mold, pet dander and dust mites can cause problems year round but when you’re cooped up with them, their effect becomes more pronounced. That head cold or “sinusitis” that just seems to hang around all winter … maybe it’s not a cold after all — it could be an allergic reactions to one of these common triggers. And those recurring ear infections your child gets — they, too, could be caused by allergies.

On the positive side, there are simple ways to fight at least two of these allergens. You can combat mold by keeping your kitchen and bathrooms dry. Be especially diligent about drying showers, where mold likes to grow in corners, and tile countertops where grout can soak up moisture.

Similarly, you can keep dust at bay by cleaning regularly and washing your bedsheets and pillow cases in HOT water weekly. Specialized covers over your mattress and pillows can help control dust mite migration. Dust mites also live in carpets, so vacuum constantly. In addition, dust clings to drapes, stuffed animals and other soft fabrics so make sure you wash them frequently in hot water if you plan to keep them around.

Pet dander can be harder to control if you have a pet, or visit homes with pets. Vacuuming helps if you do it often, but pet hair also sticks onto furniture, clothing and more. And if you let your pet lick you, you’re getting a full dose of allergen right to the face. But who wants to turn away their lovable friend when it’s showing affection? If you can’t keep up the rigid cleaning regiment, and/or don’t want to snub your pet, your best bet might be immunotherapy (allergy drops or shots).

Immunotherapy teaches your body to ignore allergens so allergy symptoms don’t develop in the first place. And both allergy shots, and allergy drops can help you overcome multiple allergies at once — for instance, pet dander, tree pollen and ragweed pollen — so you can resolve all of your allergy triggers with one form of treatment and enjoy the entire year allergy-free. To learn more about immunotherapy, click here.

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Which Allergy Treatment is Best for You?

There are a lot of options for treating your allergies but only immunotherapy can keep your symptoms from returning.

Fall is hay fever season so there is a good chance you are experiencing some allergy symptoms. After all, over a quarter of Americans suffer from significant allergies. And for many, the symptoms begin in adulthood. So the question is, what should you do about them? To a large degree, that depends on their severity and your tolerance for discomfort.

Officially, the first course of action is avoidance, which means keeping away from your allergy triggers. In theory that makes sense but it’s often undesirable and all but impossible. For instance, say you’re allergic to the family pet. Are you going to get rid of it even though everyone in the family — including you — loves it? Now consider tree, weed and grass pollen. Even if you move far away from the source of the pollen that’s bothering you, a good stiff breeze will send it flying right to you — tree pollens travel hundreds of miles. 

When symptoms start, a majority of people turn to the next courses of action: over-the-counter medications and natural remedies, including nasal irrigation products. Sometimes these measures work very well at relieving symptoms short term. The key here is “short term.” What these products do is overcome your current reaction to allergens. That’s great if you get occasional and/or mild symptoms. There are two “howevers,” though.

The first is the side effect “price tag.” Medications often cause side effects, like drowsiness, that can significant reduce your productivity. And they may not work right away, if at all; doctors now recommend you start taking medications weeks before your symptoms normally start for maximum effectiveness. Even if you do that, the only potential benefit is symptom relief. So you are supposed to take meds in anticipation of symptoms you don’t have yet just to get temporary relief from this year’s onslaught.

The second “however” is even bigger. Let’s say, best case scenario, the medication or natural remedy overcomes your symptoms today. Excellent. But tomorrow when you encounter your allergy trigger — be it pollen, pet dander, mold, etc. — the symptoms start up all over again. You’ll be taking the medication, or using the remedy, for the rest of your life. That’s a lifelong commitment to meds.

There is another option: immunotherapy. This natural treatment exposes your immune system to small amounts of the pollen — or other allergens that your body thinks are enemies — until your immune system learns to accept those allergens as normal. When the body stops trying to fight them off, your allergy symptoms decline and often disappear. In other words, immunotherapy actually makes you better. Every day on immunotherapy is a step towards an allergy-free life.

Immunotherapy doesn’t work overnight. It typically takes a few weeks to two months for treatment to start working. For best long term results, you should continue treatment for three to five years. There are three types of immunotherapy: allergy drops, allergy shots and tablets.

Allergy drops have been popular throughout the world for over 60 years. In the comfort of your home, you simply place a few drops of serum (which is composed of the allergens that trigger your symptoms) under your tongue every day. The drops are convenient, easy, safe, nearly side-effect-free and suitable for allergy sufferers of all ages. The best drops formulations are ones that are designed specifically for you. You start with a low dose and ramp up to a higher dose when your body is ready.

Allergy Shots have been used successfully in the U.S. for decades. Healthcare providers administer the shots to you in their offices on a regular basis, often weekly or bi-weekly. Health insurance policies usually cover many of the out-of-pocket costs associated with allergy shots. Both shots and drops can be formulated to address multiple allergies at once. So, for instance, if you’re allergic to cat dander and tree pollen, you can be treated for both at the same time. Like drops, shots start at a low dose and ramp up.

Tablets are a new form of immunotherapy. Each one is made to combat a single allergen. Unfortunately, most people are allergic to more than one thing. But the companies that makes these tablets have targeted the most severe allergens, like ragweed and grass pollen. Tablets start at full dose, so you get a large amount of allergen under your tongue from day one, ready or not.

So which sounds right for you? If you’re symptoms are mild and very sporadic, and over the counter medications do a good job of hiding them for you without too many side effects, you may choose to go that route. But if they’re more severe, you’re tired of the recurring battle with symptoms, you have side effects with the drugs, or you just don’t want to take medication for the rest of your life, immunotherapy might be your best bet. Either way, you should ask your doctor for an allergy evaluation. You should always be armed with information and a definite diagnosis of allergies before taking even the stuff you can buy over the counter.  Once you have answers about the cause, you and your doctor can discuss the right treatment.

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Allergies Took His Breath Away, Drops Gave it Back

Allergy drops have made a huge, positive difference in the life of nine-year old Faris,  from Tulsa, OK.

Since shortly after he was born nine years ago, Faris from Tulsa, Oklahoma has been allergic to tree pollen. So allergic, he often found it difficult to breathe. And with Tulsa’s temperate climate, his allergy symptoms — which trigger asthma attacks, as well — typically persist year round. But one year ago, he started taking allergy drops and, in the words of his ecstatic mother, Michelle, “the drops literally changed his life! He can breathe now!”

Not only can he breathe, Faris recently returned from sleepover summer camp, in the woods, which he enjoyed without symptoms. In addition, he’s signed up to play soccer this fall for the first time, a feat which would have been impossible before. Previously, Faris used nasal sprays and took twice the ADULT dosage of Claritin daily. In addition, he also regularly used QNasal, Singulair, Qvar and an emergency inhaler. He has now stopped Claritin entirely and no longer requires daily nasal spray, though he does maintain his asthma medication as a precaution.

Faris heard about the drops on a visit to his doctor’s office, KIDS Pediatric & Adolescent Care, an AllerVision-affiliated provider in Tulsa. Sammi Byrne, a nurse there, told Faris and Michelle about the drops and Faris was eager to try. “He could not be a happier customer,” said Michelle, beaming.

“We are ecstatic with Faris’ response to the allergy drops,”Sammi expressed. “It is a unique opportunity for our office to be able to provide testing in a familiar environment and offer a less invasive form of treatment to our patients,” 

Now that he is happily and carefully taking allergy drops, both Michelle and Faris are excited about all the normal activities he can finally take part in, starting with breathing.

Allergy Perils Await Your Child This Fall – What to Watch Out For and What to Do

Back-to-school season can expose your child to a wide variety of allergens.

It’s almost September — time for school, football, cross-country, marching band and soccer. There are lots of allergy traps for your child out there. Read on to find out what to look for — and what to do about it.

At school, three immediate threats come to mind. Number one is dust. Most classrooms sit empty over the summer, giving dust plenty of time to settle on tables, books, window frames, etc. Dust mites find a way of hiding inside of window coverings and light fixtures and lurking deep in hidden corners. When teachers return to those rooms to prepare for a new crop of students, dust may be among the last things they consider — if they have time to think about it at all. Once activity returns to the classroom, that dust gets stirred up and fills the air, wreaking havoc for allergy sufferers.

The second potential problem is food allergies. Depending on the severity of your child’s allergies, simply sitting next to someone eating a peanut butter sandwich could be cause for serious alarm. And peanuts aren’t the only risky allergen out there; for some food-allergic kids, a trip to the cafeteria could be like walking through a mine field. While it may be simple to avoid a specific allergen that appears on a plate in its whole form, that same trigger could be an unsuspected ingredient in another dish. Or a trace amount in the kitchen from a previous day’s meal could wind up in the food by accident. The safest course to avoid problems for allergic children is to pack their lunch at home with known ingredients.

And last but certainly not least, there’s good old pollen. It can affect your child at school both on and off the sports field. Grass and weeds are the serious troublemakers in late summer and fall. Football players, runners, marching band members, and soccer players will spend a lot of time rolling around on — and kicking up — grass and weeds. Their parents, you, will likely find yourself at parks and fields for hours where mown grass will take to the air with the slightest breeze. Even the kids who plays sports themselves are surrounded by the allergens floating in the air and drifting off their classmates’ clothing. Aside from the sniffling and wheezing that affects athletic and musical performance, allergy symptoms have a significant effect on attention and concentration in school, and, consequently, on grades. Unfortunately, while antihistamine use may curb the symptoms, side effects from the meds also tend to negatively impact performance.

So what to do about it all? The first step is to take showers and/or change clothes after spending a lot of time outdoors. For the here and now, it may be necessary to take allergy medications to get a handle on immediate symptoms. But equally important, prepare for the next phase of allergen invasion (for instance, winter mold and spring trees) and get way ahead of the curve for next fall by teaching your children’s bodies to stop overreacting to environmental allergens. Immunotherapy is the only fix, and it is all natural with no medication. It trains your child’s body to ignore the allergens that trigger their symptoms so the allergies go into remission for many, many back-to-school seasons.

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The What, Where and When of Allergies

The AllerVision Allergy Map will show you the biggest allergen offenders in your area and when they cause the most damage. Click here to see it.

Maybe you’ve had an allergy test and you have a list of allergens that cause your symptoms. (If not, click here and AllerVision can help you find a provider who will give you the answers you deserve!) But unless you’re a botanist, you probably don’t know what most of those allergens looks like. And even if you do, you may not know when you need to watch out for them. Don’t worry, we have you covered! …

Click on the caption under the image at right to visit the AllerVision allergy map. Once there, click on your region of the country to see the trees, weeds and grasses that cause the worst allergy problems in your area. (AllerVision-affiliated providers test you for sensitivity to those pollens when you visit them for an allergy evaluation.) If you hover over the names of the plants, you’ll see pictures and the season(s) in which each allergen does the most damage. Take the seasons listed with a grain of salt, though — global climate change is, well, changing the environment. Many doctors and allergy specialists blame those shifts for the huge increases in pollen — and, consequently, allergy symptoms — produced each year.

That said, if you’re experiencing allergy symptoms or generally not feeling well right about now, there’s a good chance you can blame pollen from grasses including Rye, Bermuda and Red Top, among many others. As summer fades to fall, weeds become the more primary villain, with Ragweed topping the list as public enemy number one. Pollen tends to take a rest in early winter, but come late winter and early spring, Ash, Alder Cypress and other trees begin spewing pollen like there’s no tomorrow — and allergy patients suffer mightily.

Unfortunately, indoor allergens never go away. Dust, pet dander, cockroaches and mold can cause allergy misery all year long. The allergy symptoms they trigger tend to stand out in the winter because people spend so much time indoors but even in mid-summer any one of them can be the cause of your discomfort.

Given that outdoor allergies are cyclical, you may be able to stuff yourself with medication until your worst season is over — but next year you’ll experience the same problem. Or, you can turn to immunotherapy, which teaches your body to ignore allergens so the disease goes into remission for years. Immunotherapy lets you enjoy many, many seasons without symptoms. To learn more, click here so you can stop worrying about allergies wherever you are, whatever the season.

Do You Know What You’re REALLY Allergic To?

Flowering trees do not usually trigger allergies. If you start sneezing when you encounter one, chances are that other trees — or other allergens altogether — are to blame.

Consider this: you walk down the street and see a beautiful tree with blooming purple flowers. As you get closer, you start to sneeze uncontrollably. It’s obvious you’re allergic to the tree, right? Probably not…

First, trees with flowers are usually insect pollinated, not wind pollinated. Pollen carried by insects rarely ever makes it into your system. So if it is pollen that’s causing your reaction, it’s probably not the flowering tree that’s to blame. Then why does it always seem to work that way — you see the flowers, the tree is clearly in bloom, and you start sneezing — if flowering trees are not allergy-inducing? Because they blossom at the same time as wind-pollinated trees. There may be a grove of Juniper trees two miles away and a gust of wind picked up its pollen and delivered it right into your path. Maybe you didn’t even see the Juniper pollen, which makes it an even more likely culprit; the smaller the pollen size, the farther travels and the more easily it sneaks into your nose and lungs. Then again, your allergy trigger could be pollen from recently mown grass or the patch of weeds growing in a nearby field.

Now imagine stepping into the home of a friend. Within minutes, a sinus headache comes on strong. Although there’s no pet present, cat hair covers the couch and a shaft of sunlight reveals dust wafting through the air. Either of those could be a source of your allergy symptoms. In fact, cat protein lives in a home for many months after its furry owner has vacated the scene. Or, cockroaches — completely hidden from view — could be to blame. The roaches may be long gone too, but it’s what they leave behind that gets your histamine flowing.

Last scenario… You take a bite out of an apple and your mouth tingles and your lips feel slightly swollen. Are you allergic to the apple? Hard to believe, since you just had a slice of apple pie and didn’t have any problems. You might be experiencing Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS). Simply put, the apple is related to certain kinds of pollen to which you are sensitized and, in its raw form, the apple triggers allergy symptoms.

So, how do you tell what you’re really allergic to? There’s only one reliable way — an allergy test. First, when you visit an AllerVision-affiliated provider, your doctor will ask questions to get clues to what allergens MIGHT be to blame. Then you’ll most likely receive a pain-free skin test that will reveal your allergy sensitivities in just 15 minutes. Combined with the questions you answered, your doctor should be able to identify your allergy triggers on the spot so you can discuss treatments. That, of course, is the bottom line — we want you to enjoy the great outdoors — or whatever’s really causing your allergies.

To find an AllerVision-affiliated doctor — who’s qualified to offer allergy examinations — please click here.

Does Your Child Have Allergies?… Are You Sure?

Allergies can cause a wide variety of symptoms, many of which you might not expect.

Viruses, bacteria, allergens — there’s any number of small organisms that can make children feel bad. Often the hardest part of treatment is determining the true cause of your child’s illness. For instance, is the latest ear infections the result of a “bug” going around day care or is grass pollen triggering an allergy?

Compounding the situation, allergies manifest themselves in many different ways. Of course, everyone knows that allergies can cause sniffles, watery eyes and sneezing. But here’s a list of other common, though often undiagnosed allergy symptoms in kids:

• Asthma
• Frequent ear infections
• Sinus headaches
• Nasal polyps
• Conjunctivitis (eye irritation)
• Skin rashes and eczema
• Mental problems such as confusion, slow thinking, depression and forgetfulness
• Respiratory effects including endless colds, chronic cough, recurrent bronchitis
• ADHD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactive Disorder)

That’s right,  allergies can even trigger ADHD. So, what do you do? The first step is a full allergy evaluation by a qualified medical provider. An allergy test alone — even a skin test, the gold standard — is not enough; it can show that your child is sensitive to an allergen but not determine if that is causing symptoms. Your provider should conduct a full health history. The results, in conjunction with your answers to when and where your child exhibits symptoms, can help determine if his or her maladies are allergies or something else.

One key to remember is that if your child’s ailments come and go regularly, or if they stay around constantly, there’s a good chance allergies are to blame. If they’re “one and done,” it may be just the cold going around. When in doubt, ask your provider for a full allergy evaluation. To find an AllerVision-affiliated doctor who is qualified to do this, click here.